Chelsea news: Conte to pick Christensen over Rudiger after Luiz red card v Arsenal

Luiz will miss games against Nottingham Forest, Stoke and Manchester City after he was sent off late on for a wild lunge on Arsenal’s Sead Kolasinac.

Somewhat surprisingly, Conte opted to bring on Christensen to shore up his defence instead of big summer signing Antonio Rudiger.

Christensen has spent the last two seasons at Borussia Monchengladbach gaining experience and he earned rave reviews from his spell in Germany.

Gladbach were keen to sign the Danish centre-back on a permanent basis but Conte opted to bring him back to England and integrate him into the first-team.

Christensen has now made five appearances for the Blues this season and will have a chance to stake a claim for a starting place in the next three matches.

Conte said: “Christensen is a very young player but I think he is a good player and I trust him. 

“Now he has the possibility to play and now he has to prepare very well to play.”

Conte was unhappy with referee Michael Oliver’s decision to send off Luiz, claiming his defender was fouled before his tackle on Kolasinac.

He said: “For sure, that was a foul. For sure. But, I repeat, the referee took this decision. If he stopped the play before, it wouldn’t matter.

“Do you think we are becoming bad? For sure, it’s strange, no? A strange situation. But in normal situations we have to improve. In tactical situations, physical situations, you need to try and improve. Also, you have to be more lucky in the future.

“I was a player and I think it can happen, this type of period, if you are not so lucky and receive red cards.

“In the end, we’ll try to pay more attention in the future. I hope, also, to be more lucky with the refereeing decisions — for us, and also for the opponents. Sometimes [this season] the opponents deserved a red card but, instead, they carry on playing with 11 men.”